WASHINGTON, DC – Following the reintroduction of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, Legal Action Center (LAC) released a report urging policymakers to take steps to address the growing opioid and heroin epidemic through more effective use of medication-assisted treatment (MAT).

LAC welcomes the strong provisions of the proposed rule, including provisions that apply much of the final parity rule for commercial insurance to Medicaid, expressly extend parity protections to people enrolled in managed care plans that carve out coverage for addiction and mental health treatment, and authorize states to include funding in their state plans to come into compliance with parity that is not subject to state plan limits.

The Legal Action Center has elected two new members to serve on its board of directors: Kamran Masood, a principal in the Forensic Practice of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, and John J. Suydam, Chief Legal Officer of Apollo Global Management, LLC.

The interview followed the release of LAC’s new report, “Confronting an Epidemic: The Case for Eliminating Barriers to Medication-Assisted Treatment of Heroin and Opioid Addiction”. It includes a detailed discussion about the types of medications currently available for the treatment of opioid addiction, the barriers that exist that prevent people from receiving these life-saving treatments, and ways to expand access to MAT. It also reminds readers about the lives we can save by making these treatments more available.

March 18, 2015 – NY Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a settlement with Excellus Health Plan for wrongly denying addiction and mental health benefits to thousands of New Yorkers in violation of state and federal parity laws. The settlement requires Excellus—which is part of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and has 1.5 million members in upstate New York—to cover residential treatment for addiction and mental illness and overhaul its claims review process for these services. It also requires Excellus to provide notice of a new appeal right to 3,300 members whose claims for addiction and mental health services were previously denied. The new appeals could return up to $9 million to patients.

LAC Director and President Paul Samuels and Former U.S. Drug Czar and retired Army General Barry McCaffrey published an op-ed in The Hill last week calling on Congress to pass the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA.

March 5, 2015 – New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a settlement with Beacon Health Options (formerly known as ValueOptions) for wrongly denying addiction and mental health benefits to millions of New Yorkers in violation of state and federal parity laws. The settlement requires ValueOptions—which administers behavioral health benefits to 2.7 million New Yorkers and 45 million Americans—to overhaul its claims review process and pay a $900,000 penalty. The settlement against ValueOptions is the fourth reached by AG Schneiderman’s Health Care Bureau since last year, making AG Schneiderman’s office a national leader in enforcing the federal parity law.

March 5, 2015 – New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a settlement with Beacon Health Options (formerly known as ValueOptions) for wrongly denying addiction and mental health benefits to millions of New Yorkers in violation of state and federal parity laws. The settlement requires ValueOptions to overhaul its claims review process and pay a $900,000 penalty.